"Precious in the sight of the Lord isthe death of His saints."--Psalm 116:15.

MOSES is one of the grand characters on the
pages of history. His nobility looms up as
a great patriot, general, judge and ruler of
his people; and still more grand does he
appear in his relationship toward God. He
was the personification of obedience and
loyalty as a servant of Jehovah. In this he
typifies the "greater than Moses," Messiah.
As we read, "A Prophet shall the Lord your
God raise up from amongst your brethren
like unto me" (Deuteronomy 18:15)--I am a diminutive
picture or representation of that great Teacher, Leader
and King whom Jehovah will anoint to be the real Deliverer
of Israel and the world from the bondage of Satan,
sin and death.--Hebrews 2:14,15.

Any one may discern something of the greatness of
Moses from the records. Any one may perceive that it
required great patriotism to forsake the courts of Pharaoh
to cast in his lot with his brethren, the Jewish nation, and
to become their leader out of bondage to the Land of
Promise. Any one can note the patriotism of the man
when, as mediator for his people, he pleaded with God
for the forgiveness of their trespasses, declining the proposal
that the nation be cut off and that he and his
family inherit the promises instead. Any one can see
that great faith in God was necessary for the position
occupied by Moses. But only comparatively few see the
real depths of Moses' character; for only a few grasp the
real situation and realize the Divine call to the nation
of Israel and the work of Moses as their mediator.

MOSES, THE SERVANT OF GOD

We cannot help feeling sympathetic toward this grand
servant of God--"the meekest man in all the earth"--in
respect to the particular cause which, as a penalty, barred
him from entering Canaan with his people and made him,
in a typical way, a representative of those who die the
Second Death. After so many years of patience and longsuffering
and loyalty to God, in an unguarded moment
Israel's great mediator failed in meekness and in loyalty.
Directed by the Lord to speak to the rock, which on a
previous occasion he had smitten, Moses petulantly smote
the rock the second time, saying to the people, "Ye rebels,
must we bring you water out of this rock?"

The rock whence came the life-giving stream represented
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the Rock of Ages--Messiah, who was to be smitten
once more. Compare Hebrews 6:6.

The fact that Moses was used as a type of the Second
Death class in no sense implies that he experienced the
Second Death, nor that he cut himself off from Divine
favor. The punishment which he received merely
helped to complete the typical picture--he might not
enter Canaan--he might not enter the Promised Land.

CANAAN VIEWED FROM MT. PISGAH

Pisgah is one of the peaks of Mount Nebo. From it
Moses got a considerable glimpse of the Promised Land,
toward which his eye of faith had looked for eighty years
and toward which he had laboriously guided the nation
of Israel for forty years. This grand old servant of
God, fully resigned to the Divine will and arrangement,
was put to sleep by the Lord whom he served. The Jews
have a saying that the Lord kissed him there. His place
of sepulchre was hidden--doubtless to prevent anything
of the spirit of idolatry. The New Testament declares
that Satan strove for possession of the body of Moses,
doubtless with a view to using it in some idolatrous
way, but Jehovah forbade.

MOSES DIED AND WAS BURIED

We are not to overlook the fact that Moses died, and
that he will not live again until the Divinely-appointed
time when, under Messiah's Kingdom, he will be resurrected.
Meantime he has slept with his fathers, as the
Bible generally records of all who died.

The account of the transfiguration of our Lord and the
appearance of Moses and Elias with Him in that vision
must not be made to contradict the statement that Moses
died, and that the only hope for anybody is by a resurrection
from the dead. (I Cor. 15:13,14.) We have
Jesus' own word for it that neither Moses nor Elias
went to Heaven. He declared, "No man hath ascended
up to Heaven." (John 3:13.) Jesus explained that what
the disciples saw on the mountain was not a reality, but
a vision--just as the trumpets, beasts, etc., of Revelation
are not realities, but visions. "Tell the vision to no man."
(Matthew 17:9.) St. Peter, who witnessed the vision,
declares that it was a representation of Messiah's Kingdom.
(2 Peter 1:16-18.) Moses represented one class
and Elijah another, as participators with Jesus in His
Messianic glory--in the Kingdom which is to bless the
world, the Kingdom which, established on earth, will
quickly correct wrong and effect the accomplishment of
God's will as completely as it is done in Heaven.

GOD'S PROMISE TO ABRAHAM

At the foundation of all of God's dealings with Natural
Israel and with Spiritual Israel lies His great Promise
made to Abraham and bound with an oath--"In thee and
in thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed."

God purposed from the very beginning that the curse
of death should not be an everlasting curse on the race.
From the beginning He purposed in Himself the healing
of sickness, sorrow and pain, and that the time would
come when He would roll away the curse. From the
beginning He premeditated sending the Lamb of God, who
by redeeming the world should take away its sin, lift the
curse and bring in a blessing to mankind in its stead.
Yet the first clear statement of this Divine purpose was
made to Abraham--that himself and his posterity should
be associated with God in the great work of human
uplift and blessing.

Although God knew that no member of the human
family could perfectly keep the Divine Law, nevertheless
it was expedient that this matter should be exemplified.
Hence, before God was ready to bring in the Messianic
blessing, He made a proposition to Abraham's posterity
through Jacob--suggesting to them that if they would
show their loyalty by keeping the Divine Law God would
be ready to use them as the promised Seed of Abraham
for the blessing of all nations. Israel's sixteen centuries
of endeavor under the Law are summed up by St. Paul,
saying, "By the deeds of the Law shall no flesh be justified
in God's sight."--Romans 3:20.

PREPARATION OF THE SEED

This led up to Messiah's time. The Logos, by virtue
of a special birth, became Jesus and sacrificially laid down
His life, in harmony with Divine foreknowledge. To
Him were gathered such of the natural Israelites as were
saintly at heart, to be His disciples--to share in His sufferings
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and death and to be made partakers of His glory
and exaltation to the Divine nature. These Elect, or
select, ones are with Jesus to constitute the antitypical
Moses. To this end they were called, or raised up from
amongst their brethren, as Moses prophesied. Not enough
of such "Israelites indeed" being found, Divine Wisdom
has been calling and selecting others throughout this Age
from amongst the Gentiles--from every kindred, nation,
people and tongue.

Thus gradually God has been preparing the great
Prophet, Priest, King and Judge, who during the thousand
years of Messiah's Kingdom will be the Mediator between
God and all who desire to draw near to Him and to
receive His blessing. These will be related to the repentant
world as the priests of Israel were related to
their nation; but their work will be efficacious, and not a
failure, because based upon the "better sacrifices" for sins
(Heb. 9:23), and therefore backed by Divine Power in
the forgiveness of sins and the deliverance of the willing
and obedient out of bondage to sin and death into the
glorious liberty of the children of God. This grand antitype
is before us and will, we believe, soon have its
glorious accomplishment.

The Messiah whom God is thus preparing, composed
of Jesus the Head and all the Elect of Israel and of
the whole world, the Body of Messiah, will, like the type,
be very faithful, loyal, patriotic toward God and toward
the people. Indeed, it is one of the tests of these that
they shall be willing to lay down their lives for the
brethren and be faithful to the principles of the Divine
character even unto death.

MOSES' MESSAGE TO ISRAEL

The Book of Deuteronomy may in a general sense be
said to be the dying message of Moses to Israel. It is
supposed to have been uttered within a few days of
his death.

The first address begins with Chapter 1:6and concludes
with Chapter 4:40.

The second address begins with Chapter 5and extends
to the end of Chapter 26.

Third address, Chapters 27, 28.

Fourth address, Ratification of the Covenant, Chapters 29
and 30.

Joshua appointed to be the successor of Moses,
Chapter 31:1-8.

The Song of Moses, Chapter 32--"The Rock of Israel"
--delivered on the very day in which his summons came.

The Blessing of the Tribes, Chapter 33, on the
same day.

The tenor of these addresses was hope toward God,
faith in the promises and loyalty to their Covenant
engagements.